The Flathead County Commissioners will consider a zoning change for the North Fork District this Tuesday concerning “extractive industries.” For the North Fork, this amounts to regulating the size of gravel pit operations.

The proposed zoning regulation would limit gravel operations on private land (the county has no jurisdiction over the feds) to five acres in size or an annual production of 20,000 tons of material. The zoning change falls under conditional uses, meaning a review is necessary before any gravel pit could be established.

The County Commission hearing will be held on Tuesday, October 19, at 10:30 a.m. at the Commissioner’s offices at 800 S. Main Street in Kalispell. North Fork residents and land owners unable to attend the meeting can make their voices heard by emailing the commissioners prior to the meeting: Joe Brenneman (jbrenneman@flathead.mt.gov), Jim Dupont (jdupont@flathead.mt.gov), Dale Lauman (dlauman@flathead.mt.gov).